An exciting and uplifting true WWII story about Brit
heroes
that
gives a faithful and detailed account of their deeds
in the spring of
1943
that helped shorten the war, as it reduced the Nazi
capacity to carry
on
their war machine. The no-nonsense black-and-white
film was the biggest
boxoffice hit of 1955 in England, and the critics
loved it.

Michael Anderson ("Shake Hands with the
Devil"/"Operation
Crossbow"/"1984")
directs it with a realistic verve in a documentary
style and in a
pleasing
stiff upper lip understated British way. It's written
by R.C. Sherriff
and based on the books "Enemy Coast Ahead" by Wing
Comdr. Gibson and
the
book "The Dam Busters" by the Australian writer Paul
Brickhill.

On May 16, 1943, the newly formed 617 Squadron under
the
command
of the stoic RAF's Guy Gibson (Richard Todd) launched
"Operation
Chastise,"
a covert operation that attacked the three key Ruhr
dams in Germany's
industrial
valley under the light of a full moon by using
innovative "skipping
bombs"
created by eccentric aeronautical engineer Dr. Barnes
Wallis (Michael
Redgrave).
The loss of the dams (breaching the walls of the Mohne
and Eder dams in
Germany’s Ruhr Valley that were essential to their
industrial plans and
hitting but not breaching the third target, the Sorpe,
which was of a
different
construction) put a crimp on the enemy's ability to
especially
manufacture
steel, but the toll on the British side was heavy as
73 flyers of the
133
who departed from the Scampton, England airbase that
eventful night
never
returned. If the heavy price in human life was worth
it is debatable,
since
within a year of the incident the German industry was
running again at
full capacity. Wallis was a dreamer who entered the
war effort
believing
his work would shorten the war, but felt great guilt
that so many men
lost
their lives in that effort.

The film does a great job detailing the intensive
training
the men
underwent, showing graphic accounts of their daring
mission and
offering
emotionally draining action shots of their bravery
under fire. It also
shows the humanity of the scientist inventor and the
enormous problems
of red tape Wallis had in getting the British war
establishment to
accept
his novel idea and the difficulties he had in creating
this unique bomb
that called for special arrangements such as
low-flights and only one
bomb
in a plane. The use of actual footage of Wallis’s bomb
tests made it
all
the more interesting and its lesson on physics went
over really well.

One thing that was certain was that this successful
heroic
mission
strengthened the country's resolve during a very dark
time in its
history,
and this essential war drama does a superlative job,
with no
unnecessary
romances tacked on like in a Hollywood film, of
capturing the mood of
that
period. One of the truly great war films. It very well
might be the
finest
flying picture ever made.

There's one thorny PC spot that you can make of it
whatever
you like:
Guy Gibson's devoted black Labrador dog who was
beloved by the entire
617
squadron happened to be named Nigger with no malice
intended, but
nevertheless
is a socially unacceptable name that left some
embarrassing moments for
the viewer.